A Hundred Days
for a Hundred Pounder

Trophy Elephant hunting with Felix Marnewecke of Camelthorn Safaris, Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Namibia — 2014.

The team

Camelthorn Safaris. Felix Marnewecke, Elephant Wizard, and his partner Florian Huettner. The trackers: Xhau, the apprentice; Robert, number one; and Cache, the sage. Staff: Ralf (apprentice), Teresa (chef), Hilifa (driver and handyman), Namche and Demmy (kitchen and camp).

And Felix’s rat-and-mouse dog, Max.

The country

Nyae Nyae — formerly Bushmanland — is in the far northeast of Namibia. The eastern boundary is Botswana; to the west, north and south, Ondjou and Na-Jaqna Conservancies and Khaudum National Park run up against it, forming a single vast contiguous block of managed wildlife country. Nyae Nyae itself is Namibia’s oldest communal conservancy and the second largest: 900,000 hectares of free-roaming wilderness with very limited road access.

Game includes elephant, lion, leopard, giraffe, eland, kudu, blue wildebeest, roan, gemsbok, hartebeest, springbok, duiker, steenbok, warthog, spotted hyena and jackal. Over two hundred bird species have been recorded; after good rains more than ten thousand waterbirds of eighty species gather at the Nyae Nyae Pans, including great painted snipe, flamingos, wattled cranes and breeding egrets. The trees are baobab — the country’s signature — along with manketti, leadwood, terminalia, false mopane, and a dozen acacias.

The rifles

• Mauser M03, .416 Remington — Federal Cape Shock 400-grain Swift A-Frame
• Winchester 500 MDM — 500-grain BBW #1 solid

The plan

I hunted Nyae Nyae with Felix for two trophy bulls in 2012 and one in 2013. Last year we saw an eighty-pounder we passed, three old bulls over seventy-five pounds, and more than fifteen over sixty-five. One of those old bulls we followed from a track found two meters from my tent — he had come up in the night for the smell of water from a camp toilet. Another was tracked from six hundred meters out of camp.

This year I have booked three trophy elephant safaris. Felix and I plan to spend a hundred hunting days in the concession looking for the hundred-pounder. We will pass up every younger bull — no matter how large or impressive his trophy potential — so that he may pass his genes on to the next generation. We are looking only for bulls at the end of their natural lives.

Our goal is success, but the total hunting experience and camaraderie in the great African bush is the ultimate reward.

The rain

We had planned to start on 20 April for a first, thirty-one-day safari. Unfortunately it rained much more than usual this year, and very late into the season — last week it rained hard for four days straight. Many roads and whole areas were still flooded. Felix warned on the phone that this would be a tough one: the game was scattered, and we would not be able to rely on spoor at the waterholes and pans — the bulls could drink anywhere. We would have to drive, pick up good spoor on the roads, and follow on foot.

We flew Bangkok–Johannesburg–Windhoek and arrived at ten-thirty. I was first off the plane, first in the immigration line — fast and efficient. Rifles and luggage came out quickly, but the airport police had not yet arrived to check the rifles in; evidently not many hunters come this time of year. When they did, the procedure was simple. Namibia has the easiest, simplest temporary firearm import system I have experienced.

Our original plan had been to charter from Windhoek to Tsumkwe as in past years, but three days before departure Florian needed to drive up with supplies and I rode along, putting the saved charter money on champagne. Seven hundred and eighty-five kilometers, almost eight hours with Easter traffic and more than ten roadblocks. Close to camp the road was flooded and muddy and we got stuck twice. We rolled into camp at eight-thirty-five in the evening, Felix and the staff waiting.

It was good to be back in Nyae Nyae, and especially in this camp.